Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka December 15, 2014

Eureka Rotary Burl for December 15, 2014

The Pledge of allegiance was led by Dennis Hunter and Greg Williston gave the invocation, quoting from the Psalm that encourages all to “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord” (Psalm 100). Greg encouraged us with the imminent expectation of hearing Limited Edition, who will bring joyful music rather than noise.

Greg Williston

Visiting Rotarian
Les Merrill from Southwest Eureka Rotary

Guests of Rotarians
There were many guests due to the presence of Limited Edition.*
Russ Harris brought his wife Dianne; Bruce Rupp his wife Marilyn; Lisa Slack brought a friend, Scott Leonard; Paula Patton

Paula Patton

 her husband Rick; Mike Leggins brought Linda Wise who also works for Recology; Matthew Owen brought his daughter Molly.

Ted Loring Jr. introduced our outgoing exchange students, Mateo Montoya and Bryce Hutchins, who are perhaps going to Europe or South America; they’ll find out in a few months.

Charles Young, director of Eureka High School’s Limited Edition introduced all of his choir by name. [I regret that I lacked time and space to record them all. –ed.]

Limited Edition

To Forgive at Christmas? Or not to forgive: that was the Question

Charles Young wears his PHF medal

What to do with December birthday members who refuse to sit at the front table? By popular vote we forgave the December birthday boys and girls who were not sitting at the front table (‘Tis the Season to be Jolly--and apparently, forgiving).


Announcements
Athletic director at Eureka High School (EHS) Omar Khattab

Omar Kattab

 reminded us that the 38th Loggers’ Classic basketball tournament begins Thursday and continues until Saturday. He would like to see us all out there this weekend and induced us by giving away tickets. Teams are coming from all over our region and even over the hills from places like Redding. Mr. Khattab thanked us very much for what we do for Eureka High School athletics.

President Greg reminded us that if we make our goal of $2,000 we will nothave to listen to patriotic music from Marine Corp Band. So, contribute now, says Carlton Nielsen, who made a generous donation for motivations not revealed.

Carlton Nielsen

Toys for Tots is going strong during the holidays, and Paula Patton was recognized for her amazing support of this program. If interested in providing support to this great program, please talk to Carlton Nielsen, President Greg Gardiner or Pat Folkins.

According to our club president, today is Bill of Rights Day. December 15th 1791 the first ten amendments to the US Constitution were drawn up and put into effect. He read many of those rights that we tend to take for granted.

Raffle
A missing bottle of wine will be delivered to Jay Bahner;

Linda Wise almost won the 310 dollar prize and her poor luck met with many empathic sighs.

Linda Wise draws for the pot.

Program
Limited Edition sang their hearts out with a lively selection of

Limited Edition

 Christmas music including: Joy Shall Be Yours in the Morning, Merry Christmas, Deck the Halls, a medley built around the Twelve Days of Christmas that was difficult, fun and energetic. They also

sang a version of We Three Kings and closed with their traditional Carol of the Bells as they intermingled with our club members throughout the hall for their final gift of harmonious Christmas joy.

Since the next two Mondays are ‘dark’—Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!

Respectfully submitted,


Dan Price

* If I missed a few guests please forgive me

Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka December 8, 2015

The Pledge of allegiance was led by Jay Bahner and Steve Justus gave the invocation. Steve encouraged us to remember Wayne Wilson in our prayers as he is recovering from a lengthy surgery.

Steve Justus

Visiting Rotarian
Virginia Galloway from Dallas, Georgia (she says it’s a much different city from the Texas version).

Guests of Rotarians
Paula Patton brought her husband Rick; Tom Schallert, his wife, Tess. Neil Carnam brought Cedar Ruben; Scott Hammond was a guest of Greg Williston, and Jay Hockaday brought his wife Lisa.

Our exchange student from Belgium, Lisa Pireau, has been up and down the length of our state, having recently traveled to San Diego and back.

Keith Crossley introduced Paula Patton who became a Paul Harris Fellow and received the customary recognition and standing ovation.

Gregg, Keith, and Paula

Greg Sparks, new Eureka City Manager, joined our club and received his Red Badge and other tokens.

Gregg and Greg

Robert Morse drew a lucky ticket and won a bottle of wine. Dennis Hunter got a lucky ticket, but no wine (sorry Dennis).

lucky winner

Program
Diane Mettam reported on ShelterBox, which provides long-term tent structures,

Diane Mettam

stoves, lamps, tools, water filtration, and other basic necessities for those who have lost their homes due to natural and man-made disasters around the world. Contents of each tent are tailored to the area where they will be sent. The $1,000 price covers the cost of contents, training and shipping to groups or families. These shelters have been sent to every continent except Antarctica. Diane said they are able send out these boxes because of many generous donors including Rotary Clubs. As Rotary International’s first Project Partner, Rotarians are also instrumental in cutting through local red tape. Many of the Response Team members, who deliver and deploy the boxes following disasters, are also Rotarians. Notable deployments include: The Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004, Haiti earthquake of 2010, and the Northeastern US Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Current deployments include the Syrian crisis and other Middle Eastern countries like Kurdistan, Lebanon and Iraq as well as the ongoing typhoons in the Philippines last year.

Tom Schallert

Our second guest speaker, also from our own Eureka Club, was Tom Schallert. Tom presented us with an update from his program titled: Toward Improved Blood Safety and Availability in Nigeria. Tom began by thanking Past President Steve Justus for helping get him involved in making blood safer in Nigeria. In Nigeria the median age is 19, with average life expectancy around 47 years. Tom showed many pictures of different projects in Nigeria including one that funded Malaria prevention, a huge problem in Africa. In addition, we saw a Rotary donor refrigerator, and battery backup for emergency power for a hospital.. Tom said that blood testing in Africa is pretty good in spite of the fact that they have little equipment. Tom showed pictures of Be Redeemed, a 2000,000 member church where they receive support and help. When the pastor was asked why it’s so big, he responded, “It’s the sermons.” Tom added that blood projects need tribal leader support, and our stereotype of uneducated Africans was shattered when Tom mentioned that one of the tribal leaders pictured had a Harvard MBA.

Rotary gets a check.

Tom listed some of the problems: for example, the plasma is not always stored well; blood donations are often wasted and stored poorly or labeled inappropriately; overall, the demand for blood is three times greater than the supply in Nigeria. Blood scarcity seems to be largely a communication problem. Other obstacles include Islamist Radicals like Boko Haram teaching that Western education is a sin. They also have problems with security and cultural corruption. However, much medical equipment including a Bloodmobile is being sent to Nigeria, and our local blood bank and our club's support for the program is being used as a model for some Rotary international training programs.

Speaker Tom gave kudos to John Gierek and Kim Bauriedel YRWBGIH (Your reward will be great in heaven) for their tireless efforts to support this project.

Finally, the little girl who survived because she was able to have a blood transfusion makes it all worth it. Tom will donate to The Rotary Foundation in advance of the date of his daughter’s new child (his grandchild). He gave money instead of blood. Dr. Kim Bauriedel also spoke with other District 5130 Clubs and between them and our club, donated $2800 dollars to our blood project.


Respectfully submitted,


Dan Price

Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka November 17, 2014

Greg Gardiner asked past District Governor Dave Dillon to lead the Pledge of Allegiance. A prayer by Samuel Johnson was quoted to remind us what we have to be thankful for this coming season.
Lisa, the exchange student shared with us what had been going on in her life
Rotarian minute was read. The Rotary Foundation has focused its efforts on six major areas: Peace and conflict, prevention and resolution, disease prevention and treatment, water and sanitation, paternal and child health, basic education and literacy, economic and community development. The theme of the Rotary this month is the foundation month. Club board has decided to provide some encouragement for those who are trying to achieve the Paul Harris donations made in November will be matched in recognition points.
Diane Mettam received a round of applause for turning in a full Spare Change canister. She also asked about receiving a new one.
Announcements:
Mike told us about the Christmas Party, which will be at the Elks Club. Cost will be $40 per person as opposed to $80 per person. It’s on December 20th. There will be Gift baskets and small door prizes and a Photo portrait. The Elks club will be decorated in splendor and the president will have a special gift for Rotarians who come to the Christmas Party.
Jay spoke about the annual fund raiser on Valentine’s Day. 350 people at the Adorni Center. Chance to wind some great prizes like a TV or computer. $150 per couple.
Quick update on the Boys and Girls club was brought up roof was almost done. Should be done by the end of next week.
The Rotary was in danger of not being able to support the Logger Classic that they always do, but they raised the two thousand dollars they needed right on the spot thanks to the generosity of many esteemed members.
Raffle Diane Mettam won the wine and Lisa the exchange student won the opportunity to win the 50/50 pot and did not.
The Guest speaker David Raymond spoke about his passion for the Rotary and ways that we can give to the Rotary. He let us know rather than cashing out stocks to donate it works better if we donate the stocks to the Rotary itself. He also spoke about giving after passing away, or promising to give a certain amount before passing away.
Dark for Thanksgiving.
Need help trying to get the pins to stick on our PHF board we need to have your ideas or volunteer.
Greg gave the thought for the week

Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka December 1 2014

Lunch Menu: Salad bar, beef ravioli, roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, mixed vegetables rolls, birthday cake
Called to order by President Gregg Gardiner at 12:30pm
The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Jim Howard
The Invocation was led by Pastor Matt Messner

Matt Messner

VISITING ROTARIANS: Don Morrill- Davis Sunrise, Bill Morrill- Southwest Eureka, Jennifer Budwig- Fortuna Sunrise, Liana Simpson- Old Town Eureka

Jennifer Budwig

GUESTS OF ROTARIANS: Carlton Nielsen brought Deborah Claesgens, Executive Director, at Sequoia Park Zoo; Pat Folkins introduced his wife Sheila Folkins, Jason Eads introduced Hal Joiner from North Coast Fire & Security Systems (also Jason’s BBQ Partner).
STUDENT GUESTS: Doris and Marissa, President and VP of Eureka High School Interact recently held a bake sale to raise money for Coats for Cold and are now working on fundraising for Toys for Tots.
BIRTHDAYS: Jim Howard turned 99 today and appropriately wore a t-shirt

He's 99

 that said, “So far this is the oldest I’ve ever been.” He received a gift and a standing ovation from the club. Dave Dillon told us a little bit about Jim’s life

Dave Dillon

. Jim has been a Rotarian of the Rotary Club of Eureka since 1973 (41 years). He was born in Georgia and opened a shoeshine parlor in Eureka that he owned for many years. He sat on the City of Eureka Housing Authority board for many years and was a Eureka City Councilperson for 18 years. Everyone was invited to help themselves to a piece of birthday cake. Other birthdays… Don Leonard, Hank Ingham, Jack Macdonald, Jay Reed.
ANNIVERSARIES: Bert Campton celebrated his 30th Anniversary of being in the Rotary Club of Eureka

Burt Campton

 and paid a fine of $1 per year. Jay Bahner will be celebrating his 33rd wedding anniversary
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Visitor Jennifer Budwig announced that Fortuna Sunrise will be holding a New Year’s Eve fundraiser this year to benefit Polio Plus. Tickets are $50 and are available at Redwood Capital Bank. The event will be from 8pm – 12:30 pm at The River Lodge and include complimentary Champagne. Liana Simpson has tickets for a fundraiser Old Town Rotary is holding to benefit local youth projects. Drawing will be for a brand new John Deere 4 wheeler ($5,000 value). Tickets are $10 each. Jay Bahner

Jay Bahner

 reminded us that our annual fundraiser is on February 14th please send in your money. Jay is mailing tickets to those people who didn’t pick them up. Mike Cunningham said the annual Christmas Party will be at the Elks Lodge on December 20th. Tickets are $40 per person. YOU NEED RESERVATIONS. Please contact Mike Cunningham, Keith Crossley or Bruce Smith for tickets/reservations. President Greg said 6 people who volunteered to donate money to the Logger’s Classic have not yet done so. If you volunteered please get your money in. If anybody else would like to donate $100 please talk to Gregg.

 Ziggy said that the nominations for President elect/elect will be Matt Owen, Treasurer- Jay Reed and Secretary- Dan Heinen. We will be voting at an upcoming meeting. As per our by-laws If you have somebody else you would like to present for one of these offices you need to get the signature of seven other Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Eureka and give to Ziggy.
RECOGNITIONS: President Gardiner asked all Rotarians who have known Jim Howard for 0 to 10 years to stand up. Each person was asked to either fill out an IOU (conveniently left on each table) or leave a check on the table. Then… all who have known Jim for 10-20 years were asked to give .75 cents per year. 20 to 30 years and 30 years plus were asked to give .50 cents per year. President Gregg Gardiner announced that there was a red apple at each place setting in honor of National Red Apple day. He called upon Dr. Ted Welton and Dr. Kim Bauriedel to explain the value of red apples.

An apple a day...

 Dr. Kim enlightened our group to the helpful medicinal benefits that all red fruits and vegetables offer of shrinking prostates. President Gregg said it was also National Aids Awareness Day and that Aids is a serious disease that continues to affect and kill many people.
SPENGLER-HOWARD RAFFLE: A bottle of Riverbend Cellars wine was won by Bill Morrill. Bert Campton drew from the deck of cards for the joker and a pot of $250. No go. Pot will go up by $20 to $270 at the next meeting.
GUEST SPEAKER INTRODUCTION BY: Hank Ingham. Hank introduced Bill Morrill who used to be employed by Hank at KIEM TV but Hank said he offered to introduce him anyways.

Bill Morrill

Bill has been a Humboldt resident since 1972 and is a descendent of the Russ family. He has a background in music and theatre and is an award winning film producer. He is currently producing a 3 part series for the Clarke Museum that will be airing on PBS in February.
GUEST SPEAKER: Bill presented a very interesting slide show documenting many historical aspects of our local area including a painting of Fort Humboldt done in 1854 that showed the huge amount of forestland that wan all the way to Humboldt Bay. He also had some images of ships that had been built and utilized here on the northcoast. In the early to mid 1800’s one of the only ways of traveling was by ship and it was fraught with danger. Later as cars were being utilized a trip from Eureka to San Francisco on the original Redwood 
Highway took 3 days to drive one way.

MEETING ADJOURNED: President Gardiner adjourned the meeting at 1:30 with a quote from Abraham Lincoln, “In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." And… a quote from President Bill Clinton, “Our mission in this new century is clear. For good or ill, we live in an interdependent world. We can't escape each other. Therefore, we have to spend our lives building a global community of shared responsibilities, shared values, shared benefits.”
Respectfully submitted, Alicia Cox

Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka
November 11, 2014

This was a special Veterans Day celebration that started off with a special poem, Ragged Old Flag, read by Pat Folkins.

We are not celebrating all our nation’s heroes and the diverse branches of the military but a special recognition of the Marine Corps 239^th birthday.

Major Steve Beckman led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Eureka High Limited Addition sang the Star Spangled Banner.

DR. Kim Bauriedel led the invocation with a thought going out to past President Hank Ingham who was undergoing surgery and to keep in mind Jesse Klair, whose mother is quite ill.  Please also keep in mind all the Veterans who have been wounded or died in the many wars we have been involved with. He also read the Marines Prayer.   

The National Defense Cadet Corp was next with the flag salute.

Eureka High School Band led an introduction to each military division.   

The first being recognized was the US Army and all who were involved in the Army stood and were recognized individually.

The next division was the Navy and the Veterans stood and were recognized for their valor and heroism.

Following the Navy was the Air Force.  They also introduced themselves and were recognized for their valor and heroism.

The Coast Guard was recognized but did not have any representatives.

Marine Corp Veterans were recognized and applauded.  

Greg noted that there were an amazing group of Veterans present at Rotary.  

Steve Justice spoke about the Honor Flight and thanked all the Rotary for the support of this wonderful program.  

A special round of applause was given for the World War two Veterans.

No one won the raffle, so the money will go back into the ever growing pot.

The Marine Corp was honored with a special slide show for their 239^th birthday.

Respectfully submitted,

Lisa Corral

Rotary Club of Eureka Burl October 27 2014

The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Ziggy Ziegenfuss.
Our invocation was given by Dan Price. He asked us to keep Dick Nash’s family in our prayers as Dick’s wife Jeanne has passed.
Greg Williston, Carol Rische, and Carlton Nielsen all brought guests to the meeting.
Lisa, our exchange student from Belgium, talked about her participation in Rotaract’s Spirits and Spirits event in Old Town. She enjoyed dressing up in a Halloween costume and scaring people. She is enjoying Eureka High and is playing varsity soccer. Her last game of the season is on Wednesday.
John Fullerton was fined for not sitting at the head tables during his birthday month, in spite of being forewarned by President Gregg. John claimed to be 39, but then confessed to being 62. It cost him $26.
Diane Mettam’s birthday is today. She is spending the day tutoring kids and going to Rotary.
Keith Crossley gave us the Rotary minute. He described the various funds at the Rotary Foundation including Polio Plus, the Permanent Fund, and the Annual Fund which is unrestricted giving. Keith also pointed out that because of how Rotary administers our funds that they are one of the highest rated charitable organizations in the world. Keith encouraged us to be an Every Rotarian Ever Year club.
President Gregg recognized Susie Smelser for being a visiting former Rotarian.
President Gregg inducted new Rotarian Bill Tuttle. Bill owns the Chalet and soon to be re-open Cutten Inn. He is a 20+ year veteran of the Marine Corps, and is involved in Toys for Tots and the Marine Corp League. Past President Pat Folkins delivered the Past Presidents charge.
PP Pat then went on to fine President Gregg $26 for not knowing which days the Giants won games this week. Pat went on to say that he had an opportunity to go to a World Series game and didn’t because every time he has gone to a post-season Giants game they have lost.
President Gregg went on to remind us of the importance of sponsoring a Rotarian into our club. All of us were called on to name the Rotarian who asked us to join.
Gambling Interlude
Diane Mettam won the bottle of wine; fitting as it is her birthday. Unfortunately, President Gregg forgot to bring said wine and promised to deliver it to her. Joan Davies tried to draw the Joker from the remaining deck of cards for $210, but ended up with a Queen of Hearts.
PP Kim Bauriedel introduced our speaker Kevin Patterson. Kevin is the Boy Scouts Council Chair for the Crater Lake council. The Crater Lake council administers Boy Scout packs, dens, and volunteers across 8 counties in southern Oregon and northern California. It works with 825 scouts and 325 adult volunteers in Humboldt and Del Norte counties.
In his presentation he included the Scout oath and Scout law which many of us in the room instantly recognized from our involvement with scouting. He had everyone in the room raise their hand if they had been a Scout or had been an adult volunteer. Almost everyone in the room raised their hands. He also asked those of us who had been an adult volunteer for 40 years or more to keep their hands raised and we had four members who had been involved that long.
We have two primary scout facilities in our county. First is the scout shop on M St. The second is Camp Riggs Johnston near Headwaters. Our Sign Smith fund has donated $20,000 towards the shower house there, and Rotary raised an additional $10,000 towards a water filtration system so that they have sufficient potable water at the site.
Rotary and Scouting have worked together for decades. The Cliff Dochterman Award is a Scouting/Rotary award, and it just so happens that our own PP Kim Bauriedel has been a recipient.
The national jamboree this year was in West Virginia and had 45,000 attendees. Scouting is also updating merit badges to reflect changes in industry and national trends. Their new STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) program is geared towards focusing on these areas with less emphasis on outdoor activities. The ages of participants for the various Scouting programs starts with Tiger Cubs in first grade, Cub Scouts from second to 5th grade, Boy Scouts from 6th grade to age 18, and Venturing from 14 to 21.
With a ring of the bell we were gone.

Respectfully Submitted,
Carlton Nielsen

Rotary Club of Eureka Burl October 20, 2014

Ted Welton led us in the pledge, and Mike Leggins gave the invocation. He asked us to remember Tom Schallert’s nephew who became a paraplegic due to an accident.
We did not have any visiting Rotarians. Carlton Nielsen brought Deborah Claesgens, the new Director at the Sequoia Park Zoo Foundation.

Lisa Pireau

Our exchange student, Lisa Pireau from Belgium, regaled us with her trip with 42 other past and present exchange students to San Francisco. She said San Francisco was the most beautiful city she had ever seen.
Kathy Smith announced the CR was having its 27th annual Science Night. They have 26 demonstrations, experiments, and activities for kids of all ages to participate in. It is also an opportunity to meet with faculty and staff, as well as to visit their classrooms and labs.
Bruce Smith announced that we are looking for raffle items for our annual Christmas party. If you would like to participate look him up in our roster book.

Lisa Slack announced the 100th Anniversary of Northwest Pacific Railroad in Humboldt County co-hosted by the Timber Heritage Association, the Clarke Historical Museum, and Eureka Main Street. The original Golden Spike will be on display, speeder rides will be available, and much more.

Keith Crossley

Keith Crossley gave us the Foundation Minute. Friday, October 24th, is World Polio Day. Keith challenged us with what we can do in Rotary’s effort to end polio. This is Rotary’s number one goal. If you have any questions or would like to know how to donate to help end polio please see Keith, or go to endpolionow.org.
President Gregg led us through a slide show of the progress on the Boys and Girls club roof replacement portion of our annual project. Teen Challenge, McMurray & Sons roofing, Schmidbauer Lumber, and Recology have all been a part of this effort. The rest of the roof portion of the project should take another 3 to 4 weeks. Please consider stopping by and take a look at the progress that has been made in making the Boys and Girls club a better place for kids.
President Gregg then showed a number of slides with photos showing deteriorated conditions at several of the Eureka City Schools campuses.
He then had a number of us on our feet for travel. The initial criterion was if you had traveled greater than 500 miles during the summer or since. Several members ponied up dollars for trips to Rome, Oslo, Azerbaijan, New York, Italy, etc.

Our President Elect

President Elect Jay Bahner announced our club’s annual fundraiser and raffle to occur on February 14. CC Market will be doing the catering which will consist of tri-tip, chicken, and a vegetarian option. Jay is looking for drawing, live, and silent auction items. As it is on Valentine’s Day you can guess the theme. For a bit of trivia Jay informed us that Valentine’s day is the second largest spending holiday of the year bringing in $20 billion.

We have a winner

Raffle Interlude: Steve Allen won the bottle of Rotary Red, and Russ Harris mad an unsuccessful attempt to draw the joker. The pot is up to $180.
Program
Adam Dick is one of the founders of Dick Taylor Chocolate with his business partner Dustin Taylor. They are currently located in the Almquist lumber building. They make the only whole bean chocolate in Northern California. They came up with their business plan on the way back from a wedding in Santa Barbara after seeing a video on the chocolate industry. Their original chocolate making experimentation started in Adam’s laundry room where they made “really bad chocolate”.

Adam Dick

Adam described the current trend in high end chocolate to be migrating along similar lines as coffee and beer. Coffee went from everyone drinking Folgers like products to higher end beans, more specific brews, and a better quality product. Beer has gone through a similar migration from Budweiser like comparables to products with a much wider array of styles, better quality ingredients, mare specific flavors, and a high price tag. The higher end chocolate industry has started to move in a similar direction.
In 1879 a device called a conche was developed which enabled chocolatiers to create a smoother chocolate that could be turned into bars. Previous to that chocolate had been predominately consumed as a drink. Large scale production began soon thereafter and currently 5 companies control the majority of chocolate production in the world. Most chocolate that we eat originates at one of these five companies and is resold to producers. In the early 2000’s the “Chocolate Renaissance” began with the sourcing of higher grade cocoa beans.
Dick Taylor Chocolate started making single source chocolate starting in 2010. Single source chocolate is made with all of the beans involved in that batch coming from one farm or plantation. He added that chocolate making is a very machine intensive endeavor. They have outgrown their space at Almquist and are moving into the old Alternative Building Concepts space at 4 West 4th St.
They currently produce about one ton of chocolate per month, and only a small percentage of their chocolate is consumed in Humboldt County. They have distribution points as far away as England and japan. Locally you can buy their products at Eureka Natural Foods, both Co-ops, Wildberries, and Murphys.



Jonah Folkins

 In closing President Gregg noted that Pat Folkins had been to four Giants World Series games, all of which the Giants lost. He went on to ask Pat to go nowhere near San Francisco for the next few weeks.
Respectfully Submitted,
Carlton Nielsen

The Rotary Club of Eureka Burl October 13, 2014

The meeting started off with a bit of a change in our venue as someone had told the Elks that we were dark on Columbus Day. Their staff did an excellent job of accommodating us and we met in the lounge. We next moved to the martial music of the day which was the Navy Hymn with a bit of the Marine Corp Hymn thrown in at the end. This writer wonders how that happened?
Chris Freeman was our only Navy veteran in attendance and led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Bruce Rupp gave us the invocation and asked us to keep Tom Schallert’s nephew and Wayne Wilson in our prayers. Tom’s nephew suffered a broken back and Wayne is still dealing with the challenges from an aneurysm. Bruce imparted the story of the history behind the Rotary motto.
Visiting Rotarians were Jim Siler, Rick Roberts from Southwest, and Dennis Reinholtsen from Fortuna.
Guests of Rotarians were Richard Grissom and Greg Sparks.
Our exchange student from Belgium came to the podium and told us about her experience with Homecoming at Eureka High. She failed to mention that she was also nominated for Homecoming queen and was one of the Homecoming Princesses in the parade, but President Gregg reminded her. This is the first time in recent memory that we have had an exchange student nominated to the EHS homecoming court. She is also playing on the Varsity soccer team. She’s is having quite a year already, and she has only been here 8 weeks.
Joyce Haynes from the Humboldt Senior Resource Center thanked the club for the Sign Smith Fund’s donation to their PACE program. The Sign Smith fund paid for several pieces of equipment in their new senior medical care facility. They are having their Grand Opening on Saturday the 18th from 10 am to 2 pm. Joyce invited us all to attend.
Richard Grissom from the Fieldbrook Volunteer Fire Department thanked the Sign Smith Fund’s donation of equipment for their rebuilding of their firehouse. Five Rotary clubs participated in the project and Chief Grissom said that there had been a tremendous amount of community support with the project.
Rick Roberts from Southwest Rotary invited us to their fundraiser on the 25th of October. It will be held at the Eureka Inn and features a Vampire Ball and Murder Mystery. The fundraiser is to benefit the Boys and Girls Club rehabilitation projects as well as Evergreen Lodge. Tickets are $55 and can be purchased at Redwood Capital Bank, Coast Central Credit Union, and at the Eureka Chamber of Commerce.
President Gregg re-introduced us all to Bruce Smith. Bruce is leading our Sgt.-at-Arms committee. He reminded everyone to read their emails as he has not gotten any responses to his requests for members to help set up and take down our meetings. It does not take much time and is necessary for our meetings to function well. We also need a few of our more technically inclined members to learn how the laptop/projector, sound systems, and digital camera function.
Brad Mettam gave us the Foundation Minute and talked about the role of expanding peace in the world that our Foundation does. We can now setup our Foundation giving on their new system at predictable increments so that we don’t forget to give. The Rotary Foundation Dinner North is on the 8th of November in Crescent City. Raffle tickets are $25 of 5 for $100.
Birthdays this week and recently are Jeff Leonard, Nancy Dean, John Fullerton, and Steven Lafferty.
Alicia Cox celebrated her 12th Anniversary as a member of our club.
Greg Williston turned in his Spare Change for Change canister which consisted of pennies, nickels, and dimes as his kids had all of the quarters.
Neal Ewald was our program from Green Diamond Timber Company. He graduated with a degree in Forestry from UC Berkley and has an MBA from HSU. He is the Senior VP for their western operations.
Green Diamond started out 124 years ago as Simpson Timber. The own 400,000 acres of timber production land in Del Norte and Humboldt counties. They are also the largest private landowner in both. He gave us a background on logging practices in which large bulldozers were the harvesting tool of choice, and they used napalm to burn slash after cuttings. Tree felling has changed a great deal in the last 20 years. They have moved to shovel loggers which are far less intrusive on forest floor. Roads have become more narrow as logging equipment has gotten smaller, and there is no more broadcast burning.
The Endangered Species Act has had a significant impact on forest management. Neal reminded us that the Spotted Owl was listed in 1992. As part of their habitat conservation efforts Green Diamond leaves about 25% of their acreage involved in harvesting standing, particularly in riparian areas. He showed slides of the two types of forested areas that he manages. The first he inherited, and the second they developed. The primary difference be between the two is that the managed forest acreage in the areas that they developed have larger trees and is less prone to fire damage because of pre-commercial harvest thinning. He also noted that the largest concentration of spotted owls on their lands is in the Mad River Watershed.
He spoke about the protests involving proposed harvesting near Strawberry Rock. The outcome was a process put in place to transfer those lands to a public entity. The protesters seem to not be taking yes for an answer.
Lastly, Neal addressed Green Diamond’s move out of the timber milling business. He cited competition that had contract with Home Depot and Lowes as one of the primary reasons for the decision. They will continue with their timber harvesting business. They are trying to find a buyer for their redwood mill and would like to see it converted to a Douglas fir processing facility. They also purchased the former Jeld Wenn forest lands in Southern Oregon.
President Gregg reminded us that growing membership is our primary focus this year. If we get our membership back up to 150 we can reduce our dues back to $400, we can replace the funding that had to be removed this year from several of our programs, and we will have the opportunity for camaraderie with fellow community minded business people.
With a ring of the bell one more meeting was off the books for Emperor Gregg.

Respectfully Submitted,

Carlton Nielsen


Emperor Gregg



The Rotary Club of Eureka Burl September 29, 2014

It was Confucius Day, or so we were told. Lunch was egg rolls, fried rice, lo mein, pot stickers, and Chinese chicken salad. There were fortune cookies on the table. The fortunes said things like “is good idea to give to Rotary” and “You will come into some money. Give it to Polio Plus.” Former Marine Bill Tuttle led the pledge of allegiance. Bill McAuley gave the invocation. Wayne Wilson is having an operation in San Francisco next week.

We add a new member

We went immediately to introducing new members. Susan Tissot joined the Club. She is the fund-raiser for Humboldt Botanical Gardens. Tom Schallert introduced her and Will Kay gave the past president’s admonition. From there we went to the Annual Membership Meeting.

Jay Reed

Jay Reed noted the problems we had with dues collection last year, and this year we will mail the invoices rather than e-mail them. Last year we had a deficit of $4,000. 80 members participated in last year’s event at the Ingomar. We had $8,000 in revenue.

Greg Seiler

Greg Seiler talked about the results of the recent member survey. Members felt we needed more education. 90 % of them were involved in community service projects, dispelling the notion that we were a checkbook club. They wanted to see more fellowship, and more craft talks.

Gregg Gardiner went over our membership goals for the year. We have 8-10% attrition every year. This year we started out with 124 members, and we are now at 134. His goal is to reach 150 members. If we achieve that goal we can restore funding to Backpacks for Kids and reduce dues to $400. Our big projects this year are remodeling the Boys and Girls Club, Cleaning up the Serenity Inn and assembling a playground there, and putting 3 redwood benches in Rotary Grove. Our club has $700,000 in the Sign Smith fund, an additional 60,000 in the Rotary Endowment Fund, and we have recently added the Harvey Harper Scholarship fund and the Scott Guild Memorial Fund. We are rolling in money.

Lucky winer

No one drew the joker and won the pot of $90. It was noted that last week’s winner of $310 gave the money to the Boys and Girls Club.

Dr. Kim Bauriedel introduced our speaker, Doctor Donald Baird health officer from the Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services. He spoke of the growing problem of parents refusing to get their children vaccinated.

Dr. Baird

The resistance is based on fears that the shots cause autism. A study done twenty years ago and since discredited is still widely believed. Young people have not been exposed to childhood diseases like measles, mumps, whooping cough, diptheria and polio. Once the population falls below a certain threshold of immunity there is a chance that those diseases could resurface in epidemic form. It’s a good idea to get your vaccinations renewed every five years. Flu vaccine is 50% effective. Hepatis B shots are a good idea. Watch the NPR special on Vaccines for more information and wash your hands.

confused

Gregg ended our session by quoting Confucius, who was born in 1541 BC. “Confucius say, never trust quotes you read on internet”
Typed with rubber gloves and a surgical mask by Hank Ingham

The Rotary Club of Eureka Burl September 22, 2014

Menu: Fried Chicken, mashed potatoes, salad bar, and flan for dessert.

A man holding a basket full of paper slips greeted attending Rotarians and told them to draw a number. The tables had corresponding numbers. You were supposed to sit at the table whose number you had drawn. That way, each member would make new friends. I give it a week. Ex-Jar Heads John Burger, Pat Folkins, and Gregg Gardiner stood together as the speakers played “Halls of Montezuma” which is either a song about Eucalyptus flavored cough drops from South America, or the Marine Corps theme song. We did the pledge and then John Gierek gave the invocation. He asked us to pray for Wayne Wilson, who is in SF being treated for a brain aneurysm and for John Petrusha, a former Rotarian who passed away last week.

President Gregg announced that the first two Change the World Canisters had been turned in and counted. Jay Bahner’s had $350 and Gregg’s had a measly $157. Mindy Bussman reminded us that Backpacks for Kids would be starting up again October 2nd. Bag packers are needed. Rick Littlefield was fined for having abandoned the wine he won in last week’s raffle. Pat Folkins saved it for him. Now it’s a $25 bottle of wine. Mike Martin just returned from England where he spent 28 days digging for treasure. He found a 3800-year old bronze ax head and a gold coin minted by Henry VII worth $2,000. Dale Warmuth had been in New Zealand where, he claimed he “had just been helping that sheep over the fence”. Baaaad joke. $100. The sergeant at arms Steve Lafferty announced that we can now pay our recognitions with a credit card. Wendy Purnell finally got her blue badge. She joined the club in 2008. She said she’d waited so long because blue clashed with her outfits. Our esteemed leader called our attention to the Fellowship hour this Friday from 5 to 6 pm at the Ingomar Club Pool. It’s a chance to meet new friends if the numbered tables didn’t work for you. Bring a parka. Then it was time for a drawing. The aforementioned Wendy Purnell won a bottle of Rotary wine. Then calamity of all calamities, and interloper from another club drew the joker and won $310. It was Dennis Reinholtzen, now poster boy for Rotary Make Ups.

Our speaker was Paula Patton, Times-Standard publisher and member of our Rotary club. The Times-Standard is the only newspaper covering Northern California. It has a rich history dating back to 1854, it had local family ownership up until 1967 after that it passed through two or three more acquisitions until 1996 when it was purchased by Dean Singleton of Media News. In 2013 it became part of the Digital First Media when its owner the Media News group merged with 21st Century Media. It’s currently for sale “for the right price”. Paula told us what’s going on at the Time-Standard today and how they’re dealing with the new digital world. She presented a peppy video and then gave us some statistics. 20% of her revenue comes from subscribers, 25% from inserts, 25% on line and 30% from local display advertisers. Their website had 950,000 page views last month. The paper has 72 employees not counting paper boys, who are independent contractors. The paper uses 815 tons of newsprint a year. They have a new layout that is assembled at a hub in Chico. There have been some changes. Paid subscribers have ceased to be a focus. They no longer deliver a paper to Crescent City. Craig’s list caused the demise of classified ads. They took the news content out of the Tri-City Weekly. Other than that, things are just fine.
In a last-minute surge of new membership, Gregg had Jay Reed introduce new member Anthony Stubbs who works for Jay’s accounting firm Alfs and Evans.
Gamely submitted by Hank Ingham

Rotary Club of Eureka Burl September 15, 2014

Lunch Menu: Salad bar, pork chops, meatloaf, gravy mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, applesauce, rolls, and dessert. Called to order by President Gregg Gardiner at 12:26pm
President Gardiner informed us that today is the 200th anniversary of the writing of the Star Spangled Banner. He talked about the significance & history of our national anthem and then we all sang the song together, led by Gregg’s guest, Christine. We actually sounded pretty good thanks to Christine who kept us pretty much on key. Carlton Nielsen led the Invocation. VISITING ROTARIANS: Jim M. and Praj White both from Arcata Sunrise. GUESTS OF ROTARIANS: Bruce Rupp introduced Hawley Butterfield, Ted Loring introduced Eli Savage our soon to be outbound exchange student, Don Leonard introduced his eldest son, Scott Leonard. Jeff Leonard brought Kim Bergel. FOUNDATION MINUTE: Dr. Bauriedel talked about what $100 can buy you. A new pair of shoes, a nice dinner out for 2 people or a new stove for a family that can last for many years. Rotarians that contribute $100 a year to the Rotary Foundation are considered sustaining members once they have contributed that amount annually for 10 years they become a Paul Harris Fellow. Of course everybody is urged to contribute more than that if they can. He asked us to remember that as little as $100 a year can change lives, it can make a difference. If you want to know more about the Foundation there is a seminar coming up on October 4th at the Fortuna Monday Club. A Registration form will be coming soon. ANNOUNCEMENTS: Dr. Bauriedel announced that a former Rotary Club of Eureka member, Mac Gardner recently passed away. He was a 20-year member of our club and very involved. He was the former Council Executive for the Redwood Area Council Boy Scouts of America. Funeral Services will be held at the Eureka Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on Dolbeer St at 11am on Wednesday September 17th 2014. President Gardiner announced the names of the four new members of the Board of Directors… Steven Lafferty, Dale Warmuth, Nathan Nilsen and Mindy Bussman. Congratulations to all. SPENGLER-HOWARD RAFFLE: Rick Littlefield won a bottle of Riverbend Cellars wine. Stacy Lane drew from the deck of cards for the joker and a pot of $280.00 however, no joker. The pot will now go to $300 next week. GUEST SPEAKER INTRODUCTION BY: Matthew Owen. Matthew told us that over 50% of arrests in Humboldt County are alcohol related, it was illegal to drink alcohol 81 years ago. Tobacco kills more than 5 million people a year and takes 10 years off a person’s life. Prescription painkillers are responsible for 15,000 deaths due to overdoses a year. These are all legal, regulated, controlled and taxed businesses. Humboldt County has a 4 Billion dollar industry that is untaxed, unregulated and uncontrolled. Our panel is here to talk and answer your questions about the Marijuana industry. GUEST SPEAKERS: Sheriff Mike Downey- he’s been working in marijuana eradication for over 30 years and has come to the realization that this is a free country. People should be allowed to make decisions about things like marijuana use as long as they are not a burden on the state, county, etc. He is not pro or against the legalization of marijuana but knows that what we are doing now isn’t working. There isn’t the manpower to enforce the laws. We either need to legalize or fully fund enforcement. Kevin Jodrey, Director of Wonderland Nursery in Garberville a medical marijuana facility feels that marijuana has made many medical advances and needs to be available to help people medically but it needs regulation. Natalynne Delapp, Executive Director of Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC) in Arcata – Unregulated marijuana grows are currently impacting our Federal and Private lands, our wildlife and water. Something needs to change. Maggie Fleming- Incoming Humboldt County District Attorney – As a prosecuting attorney for 25 years she is definitely seeing a big impact to our environment from unregulated marijuana grows. Our regulations and enforcement has to deal with land and water use issues. Richard Marks- Organizer for California Cannabis, Elected Harbor Commissioner, and member of the Northcoast Rail Authority Director. His job at California Cannabis is to help draft an ordinance for legitimate cannabis growers in Humboldt County that will create a powerful unified voice and create sustainable and fair cultivation regulations. Luke Bruner- Treasurer and Director at Wonderland Nursery believes that Humboldt County has an opportunity to provide leadership for the rest of California. Questions and Answers included discussion on many topics including… (Sheriff Downey) difficulties and costs with enforcing laws now include the rough Humboldt County terrain and the need to employ helicopters which are extremely expensive to run. (Dan Price) There are many dangers of marijuana use it degrades IQ especially of youth, can cause Bipolar disease and Schizophrenia by those who use it chronically. He agrees that what we are doing is not working. (Kitty Poterack)- as a Pediatrician she applauds this panel. We need to move marijuana into the light of day so serious conversations can happen about the problems with use. (Bob Morse) How will legalization improve our ability to enforce marijuana grows that are downgrading the environment? (Sheriff Downey) It may help deter those coming here for profit only. Make it not as profitable for them. (Luke Bruner) Legalization will make marijuana growers a part of the business community meaning that they will join Rotary, need attorneys, accountants, etc. (Maggie Fleming) Oakland instituted an 18% sales tax on marijuana sales. (Sheriff Downey) One big problem is that Federal Law trumps State and County law. It is unlikely that the Federal Government will ever legalize marijuana use, as there are too many states in the middle of the US that will never vote that in. Right now they are not enforcing the law in those States that have legalized marijuana but they do have the legal ability to do that.

MEETING ADJOURNED: 1:30pm
Respectfully submitted, Alicia Cox

Rotary Club of Eureka Burl September 8, 2014

Lunch was breaded veal cutlets, mashed potatoes, noodles, and gravy. The dessert was Apple cobbler. The music was a recording by the Marine Corps Marching band. John Burger led the pledge. Dan Heinen gave the invocation asked us to keep Wayne Wilson and Al Crnch in our prayers. He announced the passing of Lorraine Steele, widow of former Rotary President Kelton Steele. She was 101.

Lisa Poirot, our exchange
Student from Belgium

Jeff Leonard introduced our exchange student from Belgium, Lisa Poirot. She’s working on her English and would like to be included in something you’re doing. Former member Craig Perrone re-joined our Club. We had saved his badge. Brad Curtis, anchor at News Channel 3, was introduced as a guest by J. Warren Hockaday. J had a birthday and to celebrate it, he raked leaves. Don’t they have an app for that?

Dr. Welton

Dr. Ted Welton also had a birthday. He was 93. He celebrated by going to his granddaughter’s wedding. Brian Papstein was also on the birthday list. He objected to the recognition so President Gregg made everyone who wasn’t wearing his rotary pin put five bucks on the table. Nice going, Brian. Dr. Kim Bauriedel celebrated his “birthday” by attending a wedding and a funeral. He pointed out that a person has only one birthday. All the rest are anniversaries of that one day. Happy Anniversary, Kim.

Jill MacDonald had a birthday
e-i-e-i-o

Jill MacDonald went to a family party for her b-day.

Steve McHaney

Steve McHaney admitted to missing a month of meetings while he was in Guam. He did bring back a rotary banner from Tumon Bay. Gregg congratulated

Jay Bahner

Jay Bahner for being the first Rotarian to return his Rotary International coin bank full of money. Second place is still open. Dr. Kim Bauriedel then presented the Rotary Minute.


What can Rotary do with one donation of $100? It can buy school supplies for 15 children in Costa Rica. Donate today. Gregg pulled the Spengler-Howard raffle tickets and no one won the cash so the pot is up to $280.

Arnold King

The subject of our presenter was the Tibet Rotaract Project – Arnold King is a local history teacher and is currently the membership chair for Lost Coast Rotaract. In 2010 he worked and taught for a vocational training institute for relocated nomads in the Tibetan city of Yushu, in China's Qinghai Province. During his time there the region experienced a devastating earthquake that destroyed over 70% of the buildings and killed over 3,000 people. It required the city to be almost completely rebuilt. It wasn’t easy. The area is at an altitude of over 10,500 feet and relief crews had to acclimate themselves before reaching the city. He came back to Humboldt and, with the help of H.S.U.'s Geography Department, Lost Coast Rotaract and the Rotary Club of Eureka, was able to raise thousands of dollars to help the vocational training center continue its operations in providing gainful opportunities and capacity building for at risk populations in this remote, high altitude trading hub. They have sewing classes, motorcycle repair, welding and other training. They don’t need any donations right now. They are waiting for the school to be rebuilt so that they can continue classes.

Brian Papstein: Warning: object may be bigger than it appears.

Submitted by Hank Ingham